NEWS RELEASE

For more information contact:

Carolyn Fitch (703) 481-2038

Herndon, Virginia – October 6, 2004. Under the theme "Are You Prepared for This?" state and local building officials and representatives from the construction and information technology industries met in Salt Lake City, Utah, September 29 - October 1, 2004 to share best practices, and receive updates on a wide range of national issues of immediate concern to public safety and the American economy. Topics covered during the program included:

• A review of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Response Plan and National Incident Management System.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Regulatory Streamlining program to increase the availability of affordable housing.

• What state and local governments are doing to address homeland security and disaster recovery.

• High-Rise Retrofit & Building Rehabilitation – When? Where? How?

• The Fourth National Forum on Building Smarter in the Digital Age – A review of hardware and software available to streamline building regulatory processes,

• Status update on the World Trade Center Disaster Final Report due from National Institute of Standards and Technology in December 2004.

• Changing demographics that are impacting the construction and building regulatory communities.

• A detailed review of the U. S. Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board's recently released updated Accessibility Guidelines.

The above panels and presentations were part of the Joint 37^th Annual Conference of the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS) and the Association of Major City & County Building Officials (AMCBO). NCSBCS and AMBCO serve the building code and public safety concerns of state and local governments and provide technical support to the National Governors Association and to mayors and counties.

Among the featured speakers during the program were: Matt Bettenhausen, Director of State and Territorial Coordination, Department of Homeland Security; Bryant Applegate, Director of the Initiative on Affordable Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development; Dr. Shyam Sunder, Acting Deputy Director, Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Marsha Mazz, Technical Assistance Coordinator, U. S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board; and the directors of state and major city building departments from across the nation.

In addition to sharing information and best practices on the above topics, the annual conference included: the release of several national surveys on state and local government building regulatory programs and uses of information technology, the issuance for public comment by the NCSBCS Information Technology Industry Advisory Subcommittee of the draft interoperability standard for online permit processing software (Building Regulatory Process Interoperability Framework – Implementation Specification Version 1.0), and the unveiling of several new communication tools for state and local building officials.

Further information on the NCSBCS/AMCBO Annual Conference (including the outcome of elections and bylaw changes) and membership services are available on the NCSBCS website at www.ncsbcs.org. NCSBCS and AMCBO are currently planning their joint 38^th Annual Conference for late October 2005 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.